The ousted player also says original Vatu tried to throw their last challenge.

Survivor 50 star Q Burdette reveals big Ozzy and Christian lies that did not make it to TV

The ousted player also says original Vatu tried to throw their last challenge.

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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March 12, 2026 11:30 a.m. ET

Q Burdette on 'Survivor 50'. Credit:

Robert Voets/CBS

Quintavius “Q” Burdette seemed to be sitting pretty on *Survivor 50*. Even though he lost his vote and he lost an ally to a medevac in Kyle Fraser, he was in a what appeared to be a rock solid majority alliance and could easily survive a few votes should his tribe lose an immunity challenge.

But then Jeff Probst started rapping, the tribes started swapping, and Q watched his numbers advantage disappear as a new *David vs. Goliath* reunion took control of the new Vatu tribe. After Emily Flippen convinced Ozzy Lusth to side against his old Exile Island buddy, Q’s fate was sealed.

How screwed did Q know he was walking into that Tribal Council? How different would things have been had he given Ozzy his vote on day 2 of the game? We asked the ousted fan favorite all that and more, including who did less work around camp: Rizo or Angelina? You can watch or read the entire interview below, and also find out all about the aborted thrown challenge, and the lies Ozzy and Christian told along the way.

15:11 Survivor 50 exit interview with Q Burdette

**: Okay, let’s get to the most important question first: What do you make of Jeff Probst’s rapping skills?**

**Q BURDETTE:** You know, when you're out there and you're snapping, it doesn't sound nice. Let me just say, when I was hearing it live, I was like, "Jeff, this ain't it, boss." But when you add the little music to it now, it had a little, “Okay, he got a couple bars in.” but it was all good.

**What did you think was going to happen when you walked into last night’s Tribal Council?**

The second I drew that buff, I knew I was kinda screwed. But going into Tribal, I thought at least Ozzy and Emily would also vote with Stephenie to vote Angelina. I needed that to happen to even have a chance. Even if they vote Stephenie, I think I'm screwed because in a way, who else will they go to next? But going into Tribal, as long as Ozzy and Emily don't flip, I'm fine. I didn't care what Christian, Mike, or Angelina did because the thinking was if those three vote for me, and Stephenie, Ozzy and Emily vote for Angelina, on a re-vote, we still have three votes essentially, and now they're down to two, but I could not have them to vote for Stephenie.

So it was just one of those things, man. It happened, and I don't even think the vote is really the problem. For me, the problem was the swap and the buff that I chose. I think my destiny was kind of sealed at that point.

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**Well, the other question is: What happens you have your vote? So let's just say that you had your vote. What do you think Ozzy and Emily do in that situation where they don’t have to worry about any ties or anything?**

I think Emily probably still flips. The only thing more I could have probably done then is maybe play my Shot in the Dark and gave myself a chance at that time. Or just pull another buff. Why can't I go one to the left, one to the right? The one I pulled was just.... Dude, it was like Russian roulette. The bullet went off on me.

Q Burdette, Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 50'.

**When you and Ozzy ended up on the same beach, did you ask if you could have your vote back?**

So I asked Ozzy about the extra vote. And this is when I knew, like, *Okay, maybe Ozzy is not playing with me the way I think*. Because I asked Ozzy about the extra vote and he told me at the time he gave it away to Joe to protect himself at a Tribal Council. And it did not even sound like it was true because he hesitated. I even said in a confessional, like, “Either this guy thinks I'm an idiot or he's just the worst liar ever.”

But I don't think I can trust Ozzy at this time because I knew then it was a lie. And then when Emily gave me the information about Christian giving Aubry the idol — see, we knew Aubry had that idol. We just didn't know who it came from. So it was one of those things once Emily told me this information and I kind of confronted Christian about it and I realized then Christian lied to me because he was like, "Oh yeah, Savannah found an idol and gave it to Aubry." I'm like: *Why would Savannah give Aubry of all people an idol when Rizo is on the same tribe?* So I knew then Christian was also lying and he's the one who gave the idol.

I had so much information, it was crazy. I had all of the information on Ozzy with his extra vote and his idol. I never told anybody about his extra vote. I was willing to work with the guy throughout the entirety of the game to a point, but it was one of those things. Look, Dalton, if you look at that tribe, the only vote that makes sense on that tribe, given all of the relationship history, it's me.

Christian and Emily, they play video games together, the Clocktower and all that. They're not voting for each other. Come on. To make it seem as if they just met on day one, day two, and they're all of a sudden want to ... Come on. And then the three that played on *David vs. Goliath*, they're not voting for each other right now. Come on. So who am I kidding?

Then Mike White told me on the island that him and Ozzy had a relationship in terms of being in the restaurant industry and meeting him in L.A. So the only two options really is me and Stephenie. Who makes a better splash? So the buff I drew is kinda what took me out.

2:33 The Cast of 'Survivor 50' on Who Is the Most Extra

**What did you make of Emily telling everyone everything.?Telling you guys about the Aubry idol, then going back and telling Angelina about what you said about her? She was kind of all over the map.**

I thought it was kind of sloppy gameplay. I didn't know all that took place. I knew about her telling Angelina, but I didn't know about her going back and talking to Christian more about the idol situation. It was kind of sloppy. But going into the game, I knew: That's the person that Emily Flippen is. She got flippin’ in her name.

Maybe I could have shifted and tried to work with Angelina, but it was so far gone because I caught Angelina in so many lies that it was, like, disgusting. She was telling me, "Oh, I haven't talked to Mike White in like three years." Then when Mike White gets on the beach, I asked him, "Aare you still cool with all these folks from your season?" He was like, "Yeah, I talked to Angelina right before we came out here." I'm like, "She told me y'all ain't talked in ... " So that right there kind of really sealed it.

But even around camp, I'm the guy going out every single day making sure the tribe has what they need. I'm keeping the fire going all night long for these folks, and in the daytime, I'm just thinking, *Okay, maybe they're gonna do something. *And there was so many days where something was nothing  for two or three people in my tribe. And Angelina was one of those people. So now, you put us on the same beach, we haven't left Vatu, she's still here. Now I found out, *Okay, she's just been lying to my face about this whole Mike White thing and Christian thing, I can't trust her. I need her to go.*

Q Burdette on 'Survivor 50'.

**Who did less work around original Vatu, Rizo or Angelina?**

I think it was a tie. I'm telling you. Rizo don't do much, Angelina didn't do much, but at least you could edge Rizzo, "Come on, Rizo, let's go. " And he would be like, "Hey, I got you. Let's go. " Angelina, it was more I didn't wanna say anything really because again, Q being Q, I have to be careful as to how I act and how quickly I react in public. So I was just quiet and I talked my crap in my confessionals. I know how to keep my mouth shut a little bit, but I think it was equal. I mean, they didn't do hardly anything.

'Survivor 50' recap: Battle lines are redrawn after a tribe swap

Jeff Probst explains why he started rapping on 'Survivor 50'

**You said you knew about Aubry having an idol. I was wondering because sometimes things get shown out of order because they're showing things at one beach before getting over to the other beach. When you guys did that bag search, did she already have the idol or not?**

Yeah, she already had it.

**And that's why she was carrying her bag around everywhere after she got it?**

Right. And Genevieve peeped it out where the first couple days, everybody left their bag in the same area. And then, all of a sudden, Aubry leaves camp with her bag and Genevieve had already found the Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol, so she kind of knew, *Okay, this is kind of weird. She's never done this.* And then from that point forward, Aubry always just kind of kept her bag. And the one day that we did search, we were just coming back and maybe it was on her, but we knew she had it.

Like, it was no doubt in our minds that Aubry had it and that's what we were going with. And then to find out to confirm, *Okay, she actually had it,* it was like, *Okay, we knew that information*. So that's why I was so surprised when Emily came to me, and again, it's one of those things, you look back on it, I just don't think I could have been in a more terrible spot than what I was in.

Q Burdette and Benjamin "Coach" Wade on 'Survivor 50'.

**One of the big storylines before the season was you and Aubry obviously, because you name dropped her in 46, and then *of course* they put you guys on the same tribe together. So what did you make of her once you got to actually play with her for a few days there?**

Aubry was one of those folks, she wouldn't really commit one way or the other. But she also wasn't saying my name. She was more so screaming other names other than mine that I could remember and I heard of, but it was just one of those things where it was a little bit in me like*, Okay, hey, we can play this thing up and be on opposite sides and bring all of the information back.*

But we had an opportunity to do this challenge that Vatu lost in — if it was my original Vatu tribe, we probably would have lost on purpose, because we talked about throwing the previous challenge. The only reason we couldn't do it is because Cila was so bad at the ball — they kept dropping. So there was no way for us to throw it without it looking so obvious, and we didn't want to be there all day, but so if the Vatu tribe could have maybe stayed together for one more challenge. But that would have been the perfect challenge that we would have probably thrown, and we would have had votes on Angelina and Aubry to get Aubry out with the idol and then now Colby and I have our votes back. Here we go!

And it was so crazy because the last challenge we won that we were talking about throwing it, I had us all at the water well and I was like, “Listen, the worst thing that's going to happen is if we go into this challenge, we win, and we swap the next day. I fear I'm going to swap and I'm either going to get on the same tribe with Colby and we're going to be down two votes, or I'm going to get on the tribe by myself with no vote and I'm going to go home.” And that is exactly what happened.

7:23 The Cast of ‘Survivor 50’ Reveals Who They Want to Vote Out First

**So you were trying to get your lost votes out of the way by losing a challenge.**

**So at that previous immunity challenge, were you in that challenge actively trying to lose until it got to a point where you couldn't, or you just kind of didn't implement that plan after you talked it.**

Well, it had to be implemented towards the back end on the ball. So in terms of taking our time, it was talked about. And when we got back to camp, Genevieve comes up to me and she was like, "I'm so sorry, Q. We was in the mood, we knew we had to throw it.” I was like, "Listen, it's good.” Because it was so difficult to throw that challenge just based on the mess at Cila.

But something that I wanna address is the fact that in a season like season 50, and it's in the hands of the fans and I understand they vote for a tribe swap at some point. For me, I felt like it was kinda early maybe, because we only saw these folks vote together twice. We build these relationships for seven days that don't fester into anything unless you're the losing tribe that's been voting together, and now you're stuck together again on a swap. So it happened kinda fast, but in the new era — 26 days, 24 people — it has to happen fast. So I can't complain about it. Everybody was dealt the same cards. It was just the hand that I was dealt, I had to play it, and it wasn't great.

Mike White, Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Q Burdette, and Ozzy Lusth on 'Survivor 50'.

**Anything else that happened out there that didn’t make it to TV that you wish we had seen?**

I really wish they would've shown the conversation between Ozzy and I about his extra vote, and there was more conversation about his idol. So at that point in time, I thought, *Okay, at the very least, I have *Ozzy *and I have Stephenie, and how can we finesse one more person to kind of vote with us?* And we thought it was gonna be Emily. But I don't think Emily really had any interest in actually playing with me. And that goes all the way back to stuff that I heard before even going to the island that Emily was saying — you know, I was not her favorite person to play with.

And it was like, *Okay, you don't even know me.* Nut it's just one of those things that you're in the game and you have to try. And who else am I gonna go to to vote Angelina? Mike White and Christian? Probably not, because I know now she's lied to me about the Mike White relationship. What is she not telling me about Christian? I did not think that Emily would go to Angelina.

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